Minnesota native feels called to help Ukraine: 'Logistics wins wars'

He'd never been to Ukraine. He didn't have any connections to the country. But when Russian bombs began falling, Mark Lindquist knew he had to do something.

After all, he'd been given so much in life: A loving home on a family farm in Ortonville, Minn., after being adopted at 8 months old. A chance to travel the world with the U.S. military, first in Hawaii as an intelligence analyst and then using his golden voice to visit 22 countries as an Air Force entertainer.

And most of all, a heart to help. Perhaps that was instilled by his adoptive father, who'd been a Peace Corps volunteer in Malaysia; perhaps it was a natural outgrowth of being given a new life in America after being orphaned in South Korea. Either way, the same heart that led Lindquist to join AmeriCorps and the military also led him to help when he saw devastating images from Ukraine.

So, a few months before the Fargo man's 41st birthday, he purchased a plane ticket to Warsaw. He bought $5,000 worth of military gear on Amazon: A rucksack, boots, body armor, a helmet, thermals. He connected online with fellow U.S. veterans headed to the war zone.

When he landed in Poland on March 29, Lindquist didn't know how he'd help. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for foreign fighters, tens of thousands of military veterans from 52 countries volunteered. But Lindquist hadn't experienced front-line combat, so he didn't expect to be accepted. Maybe he could help war orphans instead.

"All my veteran friends, our ears perked up: 'The cause of freedom is being threatened,'" Lindquist said. "It doesn't matter to us veterans if the person we're fighting for is in Arkansas or Ukraine. It's not just the cause of American freedom — it was the cause of freedom globally we were called to defend."

Since March, Lindquist has spent about eight months in Ukraine, he said. He soon learned Ukraine's orphans were well cared for, so he switched gears to help with the logistics of moving much-needed supplies across the country. He sourced supplies in the United States, figured how to ship them to Poland, then got them to the right spot in Ukraine.

Lindquist said he has transported more than $5 million worth of medical supplies across Ukraine: tourniquets for soldiers, first-aid kits for medics, hospital supplies for clinics stretched thin with war injuries. He delivered another 30 carloads of aid himself. He's back in the United States now, figuring out a way to get three shipping containers of winter gear to Ukraine — some 120,000 pounds of gear he found from a clothing recycler in Fargo. He's fundraising for the nonprofit he founded, the A-Team.

"We have enough stuff on planet Earth to help Ukraine — it's just sitting on the wrong side of the world," Lindquist said.

Lindquist has been a cog in this loose network of military veterans from around the world who've used Reddit and Facebook to find each other.

Harrison Jozefowicz, 26, quit his job as a Chicago cop and moved to Ukraine just as war broke out. Every veteran who goes to Ukraine seems to have their own personal motivation. For Jozefowicz it was when a soldier he'd served with was killed during the 2021 evacuation of Afghanistan. When war in Ukraine began, so did a worldwide refugee crisis, and Jozefowicz envisioned Afghanistan happening all over again.

"I've been exposed to the unique stress of a war zone, and not a lot people have that experience," Jozefowicz said. "I'm going to do God's work, what needs to be done to bring a little bit of good into this evil world."

A month in, Jozefowicz met Lindquist.

"He found supply sources, he found the shippers who can get it internationally, and he found a place for it in Ukraine," Jozefowicz said.

Pedro Bedard, a 58-year-old Canadian military veteran, felt called to stand up for the little guy: "I hate to use a line from 'Captain America,' but I don't like bullies — never have, never will," he said. He took $5,000 earmarked for a wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii and went to Ukraine.

"I've never seen somebody who could organize the way Mark can," Bedard said. "This guy was not afraid to knock on doors and get doors slammed in his face. … He's relentless."

Lindquist has spent much of the past year networking in Ukraine and figuring out which needs are most urgent.

Back in the United States, Lindquist wanted to find a way to keep people's attention focused on Ukraine. One of Lindquist's most salient character traits is that he's a natural showman. He is a motivational speaker for Fortune 500 companies. He has sung the national anthem at NFL games, and he leads a 17-piece Sinatra-style big band.

So to help drum up support for Ukraine, he did what you'd expect from a showman: He staged a publicity stunt.

For 17 bitterly cold December days, Lindquist slept in a tent in Fargo, Moorhead and Ortonville, raising awareness for his winter clothing drive for Ukrainians. Then he flew to New York City this month, camping out one night next to "Good Morning America" studios and another night next to the "Today Show" studios. (He didn't get on either show, but he said he did speak to "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts.)

His clothing drive filled three trailers and raised $30,000. Hunters donated old gear. Americold Logistics, a cold-storage company with a location in Park Rapids, Minn., donated cold-weather work gear.

Lindquist is trying to persuade veterans organizations to raise more money so he can buy more medical supplies for Ukraine. And he has already bought another plane ticket. He's flying from Minneapolis to Warsaw on Feb. 3 and expects to cross into Ukraine the next day.